Tales of software craftsmanship

While lots of new features are still pouring in from this year’s Google Summer of Code projects, it will take us a while to make sure they don’t crash and burn and hopefully release them some time later this fall. In the meantime, why don’t you help us weed out some bugs to make Amarok 2.3.2 the rock solid release we would like it to be?

To make the task easier, we have deployed a sentinel to look out for bugs: Amarok 2.3.2 Beta 1, codename “Sentinel” is out.

Since the last release in the 2.3 series the Amarok team has been working through the laziest days of summer to implement very much needed fixes, changes and even some new features, especially concerning filtering and podcasts. Read the full announcement here and don’t forget that to make Amarok 2.3.2 even better, bugs.kde.org is the place to be 🙂

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Collapsible D: The Final Minutes of the Titanic is a thematic board game in which the players (3-6 of them) try to save the lives of passengers on the infamous sinking ship. Each saved passenger grants victory points, but reaching the lifeboats on the top deck isn't easy, especially for a third class passenger who starts deep inside the ship.The game takes its name after the RMS Titanic Collapsible Boat D, the last lifeboat to be successfully launched from the ship with about 25 passengers on board. At that time, there were still 1500 people on the Titanic.The events of Collapsible D unfold over 16 turns, which accurately model the final hours of the Titanic. The game is impressively well researched, and the passenger cards come with actual names and photographs of survivors (we got to rescue Frederick Maxfield Hoyt and Jane Anne Hoyt, husband and wife).In-game lifeboats are launched at the same times as they were on the real Titanic, so the player has to get their passengers to the right boat at the right time to even have a shot at boarding.The way to the top deck is hindered by panicked mobs and the rising water level, gradually spilling over the bulkheads, and even if a passenger manages to reach the top deck, boarding a lifeboat is a difficult endeavor, especially if he happens to be a third class male.A variety of bonuses can be found throughout the ship to increase a passenger's chances of boarding a lifeboat, including cash, a gun and an infant.Collapsible D is a very suspenseful and engaging game, it is one of those board games one plays in order to experience a story rather than for strategic depth. With a simple mechanic, outstanding historical accuracy and an incredibly deep theme (no pun intended), this is one of my all-time favorites, and is sure to be enjoyed even by players without specific interest in history. -- 2 years ago

In Cyclades, players compete against each other for the favor of the gods. The Cyclades (Κυκλάδες) are a Greek island group in the Aegean sea, named that way because they surround the sacred island of Delos, birthplace of Apollo and Artemis, meeting place of the Delian League and once a busy nexus of culture and commerce.The Cyclades board game comes with a pantheon of five major gods. At the start of each turn all players bid for their favor in an auction, and each god bestows his or her own unique bonuses. Players can also hire mythical beasts, such as Polyphemus, Medusa or Pegasus to unleash against their foes.The goal of the game is to be the first to build two cities on your islands, while preventing your opponents from doing the same through warfare and resource domination.Cyclades is a fairly quick game. I've found the bidding wars for the gods somewhat limiting, because the gods are effectively the main resource, and their scarcity is what creates tension. In order to win, a player should ideally win the auction for every god at least once if not twice, and this is not easy when everybody else is trying to do the same thing. Cyclades is beautifully designed and easy to learn, and while there are games I like more, it's not hard to see why this one is a sure crowd pleaser. -- 2 years ago

Genji is a card game of Japanese Tanka poetry. Players take the role of gentlemen trying to impress the ladies of the Japanese imperial court with their poems.A poem is constructed by laying down two cards, a beginning and an ending. Each half-poem has a topic and is related to a season, and each lady has her own preferences. The game is played for 4 seasons (4 trips around the 12 ladies), and for every season there's a new topic in fashion.By comparing a poem with a given lady's preferences and the current season and fashion, each poem can be rated as more or less beautiful. A player can also destroy another player's poem, this is achieved by wooing the lady with a more beautiful beginning or ending.Genji can be played from 2 to 6 players, and it seems to work well with groups of all sizes. It's a fun and engaging game without being excessively demanding as far as time or table space is concerned. With its unique mechanic and gorgeous theme, this one is sure to get a lot of play time. -- 2 years ago